Method and system for determining a track record of a moving object

ABSTRACT

A method and system is presented for determining a track record of a moving object by determining at least one characteristic property of the object, such as the velocity, acceleration, cetripetal acceleration, total travelled distance and total time. This is solved by utilizing a plurality of received Global-Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, each of the coordinates comprising the momentary position and the actual time of the moving object, and storing the at least one coordinates data in a storage means. From these coordinates the at least one characteristic property of the moving object is determined and thereby the track record of the moving object.

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No.60/363,845 filed 14 Mar. 2002.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and system for determining atrack record of a moving object by determining at least onecharacteristic property of the object.

BACKGROUND

Today, we are facing a global problem, which increases every year. Thisis the heavy traffic, including car traffic, air traffic and traffic atsea. The result is a huge increase in accidents every day leavingthousands of people injured or killed all over the world. In addition toaffecting peoples health and lives, these accidents also involve a hugecost for the society. Accidents, on land, in air or at sea, may berelated to many different reasons. In the western world, the statisticstells that the group that causes the most car accidents are young peoplearound the age of 17-20 years old and professions such as fooddeliveries. Besides this, dangerous roads, sailing routs and frequentlyturbulent air spaces are areas of focus, when looking at statistics ofaccidents. By monitoring these risk groups or areas, the accidentfrequency may be reduced, as well the cost that follows the accidents.

Another important application is by creating an additional “Black box”for aircrafts, being a data storing and reporter means to monitorrepeatedly the exact position of the aircraft in a more detailed waythan it is done today. If an aircraft is outside its predefined route, awarning could be sent; to the air-traffic control. The warning signalcould also comprise unusual flying behaviour. In today's systems thecommunication to the air-traffic control can be disconnected within theaircraft. This is a possible scenario, where an airplane is hijacked. Insuch cases it is impossible to monitor the trajectory of the aircraft.Accordingly by implementing such a data storing and reporter means inthe fin or the tail of the aircraft as an example, the connection to theair traffic control cannot be interrupted.

It is apparent that there is a need for device, a data storing andreporter means, for obtaining a track record of a moving object.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,079 a system and method is presented formonitoring movements and performance of a motor vehicle, in order tolocate it and determine the manner in which it is driven. This is solvedby evaluating and recording the driving method over a period of time.One of the variables that is monitored is the acceleration ordeceleration of the vehicle, determined by a sensing module. From theacceleration the location, the speed and direction of travel iscalculated. It is however mentioned that the position of the vehicle maybe determined from the Global-positioning-system (GPS). The operation ofthe system is controlled with a microprocessor, wherein a separateperformance analysing computer with a fuzzy logic circuitry and a neuralnetwork circuit is provided to process data collected from the sensingdevice to analyse how the vehicle is driven.

Another invention is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,239-A patent,where a GPC receiver obtains GPS signals and automatically or manuallystores information such as position and time of position. The system inthis invention sends information from system/device to computer in acontrol unit where a track record can be created. A similar device hasbeen described for airplane in JP 10035593. A tracking recorder forthree-dimenstional positioning utilises GPS coordinates and calculatesfrom these coordinates variables such as latitude, longitude andaltitude. These informations can be used afterwards to, show the flightroute.

US 2002/029109 A1 discloses s system for recording positional andoperational data of a vehicle including a GPS receiver and a storagemeans for GPS data. The stored data may comprise parameters such asvelocity and distance travelled, as well as supervision of a movingobject with regard to a three-dimensional frame set.

The problem with the above systems is how complicated they are and thelack of real time processing and communication of collected andcalculated data obtained and processed by these system. For example,these systems do not utilize the GPS coordinates in order to determinevariables such as the acceleration and the perpendicular acceleration,which is important for determining in which manner a moving object issteered and how accurately it maintains it's route.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple method anda low cost and compact system for obtaining a track record of a movingobject, and thereby reducing accident rate. It is a further object ofthe present invention to provide a method and a system for utilizationas a data collection, processing and a reporter system for movingobjects such as aircrafts and ships. This system uses GPS coordinatesand real time processing of for monitoring and reporting the objectsposition as well as other physical parameters, such as speed,acceleration and centripetal acceleration of the moving object

According to the first aspect, the present invention relates to a methodfor determining a track record of a moving object by determining atleast one characteristic properties of the object, said methodcomprising:

-   -   receiving at least three Global-Positioning-System (GPS)        coordinates, each of the coordinates comprising the current        position of the moving object and the current time, at which the        moving object is at the current position,    -   storing said coordinates data in a storage means,    -   utilizing the at least three coordinates for determining said        plurality of characteristic properties of the moving object,        and thereby obtaining a track record for the moving object,        wherein the track record comprises information related to:    -   direction of movement    -   velocity    -   perpendicular acceleration        and wherein said track record data is utilized to create user        information.

Preferably, the coordinates data are stored as at least one data packagecomprising one timestamp coordinate point as a reference point for saidat least one data package, the timestamp giving the absolute positionand absolute time of the moving object, and a plurality of coordinatedata points as a deviation from the timestamp coordinate point. As anexample the data package consists of 28 GPS coordinates points,including the GPS timestamp coordinate point. The number of data in eachpackage is however not essential. The timestamp point requires muchspace because of all the information, i.e. the exact location (global)and the exact time. The additional points in the data package usehowever the timestamp as a reference point, and therefore instead ofgiving the exact position and the exact time of each coordinate point,which is very space demanding, the deviation from the timestamp is usedand stored. This minimizes the memory required for storing each datapoint. Accordingly, each data package may be regarded as one coordinatesystem with the timestamp as the reference point. By using a pluralityof such data package, and therefore defining a new timestamp point, theerrors are minimized, due to the fact that the deviation from thesereference points are being registered and stored, and not the absoluteGPS-coordinate points.

In one embodiment the stored GPS coordinates data is transmitted to acomputer system to a receiver side that is provided with a computerprogram for determining said at least one characteristic property of themoving object. This transmission may be a wireless transmission, such asthrough a satellite system or telephone network or the transmission maybe through plugging the system to a computer system. In anotherpreferred embodiment said characteristic property of the moving objectmay be determined and optionally stored prior to transmitting the data,whether or not the data is the GPS coordinates or said characteristicproperty data or both are transmitted to a receiver side, wherein thetransmission may be as mentioned above.

Both these embodiments depend on how compact the system is supposed tobe. If the computer system is on the receiver side the system may bemore compact, such as in the size range of box of matches. Thecoordinates data may be stored as at least one data package, the atleast one data package comprising at least one timestamp coordinatepoint as a reference point for said at least one data package, thetimestamp giving the absolute position and absolute time of the movingobject, and a plurality of coordinate data points as a deviation fromthe timestamp coordinate point. This methodology requires a lot lessspace than conventional methods and is therefore less costly.

The moving object may be a motor running vehicle, wherein the at leastone characteristic property is at least one of the following:

-   -   perpendicular acceleration of the moving object a_(cent),    -   the acceleration of the moving object a,    -   the velocity of the moving object v,    -   the total travelled distance of the moving object s,    -   the location and a time (x,y,t), and    -   the total travelling time of the moving object t_(total).

These characteristic properties data may be determined through standardcalculations utilizing the basic laws of physics, i.e.:

${a_{cent} = \frac{V^{2}}{R}},{a = \frac{\Delta\; v}{\Delta\; t}},{v = \frac{\Delta\; s}{\Delta\; t}},{s = {\sum\limits_{i}{\Delta\; s_{i}}}},{and}$${t_{total} = {\sum\limits_{i}{\Delta\; t_{i}}}},$where Δv is the variation in the speed of the moving object in the timeinterval Δt, Δs the distance the moving object has travelled in the timeinterval Δt, Δs_(i) the distance between two GPS coordinates, which maybe adjacent coordinates, Δt_(i) the time interval between two GPScoordinates, which may be adjacent coordinates and V is the tangentialspeed of the moving object in a circle of radius R. The radius R may bedetermined by observing the path route of the moving object. From thispath the curve is assumed as a sector of a circle in a firstapproximation, from which the radius R may be determined. The conditionΔt→0 gives the instant instantaneous velocity and acceleration.

The time interval between two received GPS-coordinates depends on theGPS satellite system as well as the processing speed of the system.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the information maycomprise any of the following:

-   -   moving manner,    -   velocity comparison with a velocity database,        wherein the velocity database includes information about upper        and lower velocity limits in certain areas.

A predetermined upper and lower limit of the at least one characteristicproperty may be defined, mainly for the track recorded. Thus the trackrecord of the moving object may be based on the data that exceeds sailpredetermined limits such as the velocity and the acceleration, bothlinear and lateral acceleration (perpendicular acceleration orcentripetal acceleration) to the direction of the moving vehicle. Thetrack record may also contain information relating to position of thevehicle. These predetermined limits may also be used as a warningsignal, indicating when the moving object is driven to fast, when theacceleration is to large etc.

The reading of the first GPS coordinates data may be bound to a minimumvelocity of the object, i.e. if the object exceeds a predeterminedvelocity limit, which may as an example be 5 km/hour, the first GPS datais collected.

Calculations of other physical (dynamical) parameters, where the GPScoordinates are employed, are also possible.

In one embodiment means for obtaining at least one environmentalparameter is provided, wherein each of said parameters can be associatedwith a GPS coordinate. These parameters could for instance beprecipitation, temperature, moisture, wind-speed. Under certaincircumstances the at least one environmental parameter could influencehow the upper-and lower limit of the at least one characteristicsproperty is defined. As an example, if weather conditions would changeresulting in icing on roads, that information could be stored in adatabase and transformed into a signal resulting in a lowered speedlimit on the roads in a given area.

Accordingly, the track record, which may be coordinates or any of theabove mentioned physical quantities (characteristic property) are storedand given an exact location with a time. The time period in which thesecharacteristic properties were determined may be based on the time fromstarting the automobile until it is stopped. In one embodiment thereceiving of the first GPS coordinates may be based on that theautomobile is moving and exceeds said predetermined limits. If theautomobile is under this minimum velocity, no data is collected andstored. If the automobile exceeds this minimum-velocity the first GPSdata is collected and the calculations of the at least onecharacteristic property starts, and stops when the velocity goes underthe minimum velocity. If the amount of data exceeds the upper limit ofthe storage means, the new data may replace the oldest data.

All these physical characteristic properties are determined by theGPS-coordinates, with the standard physical calculations preferably withthe location of the vehicle as well as the time. A typical track recordwould therefore link the position and/or the time and/or the at leastone characteristic property of the moving object to the position of thevehicle/moving object and the time.

Accordingly, a track record of the moving object for a predeterminedtime limit could comprise at least one of the following data:

-   -   the total distance the automobile has travelled,    -   the total time the automobile has been driving,    -   where and/or when said predetermined limits has been exceeded,    -   the maximum speed,    -   the maximum acceleration,    -   the position,    -   the maximum brake distance, and    -   the most frequent driving speed of the vehicle.

An example of an application utilizing such a track record is whenparents want to monitor the driving habits of their child, which hasjust got it's driver's licence, with the aim of ensuring its safety.

An example of an application is the insurance companies, which couldalso implement such system into the cars for teenagers in the age of17-20, which could result in lowering the insurance fee.

An example of an application is a food delivery company, such as a pizzaplace that could also integrate this into their cars, thereforeenforcing their employees to drive safely and obey the common trafficrules. If an employee would exceed certain upper-limits, such asvelocity upper limit cr acceleration upper limit, the event would beregistered with location and time.

An example of an application is calculation of additional taxes fordiesel automobiles, such as jeeps, that pollute more than many otherautomobiles. The calculations could be based on the following criterion:

-   -   urban driving and    -   rural driving.

The charging could, as an example, be lower if the automobile is drivenin rural areas than in the city. Therefore, by keeping track of wherethe automobile was driven, the charging per kilometre could be setaccordingly.

In another preferred embodiment the moving object is an aircraft,wherein the file history (the track record) may comprise at least one ofthe following:

-   -   Whether or not the aircraft is inside recommended 3-dimensional        geo-fence,    -   speed and/or variations thereof,    -   linear acceleration,    -   perpendicular acceleration    -   altitude and/or variations thereof, and    -   position,        wherein real time processing of said data can be transformed        into a signal and obtained by a receiver. In this case the        receiver would be air-traffic controller.

The rate of collecting the GPS-coordinates and/or determining the atleast one characteristic property data of the moving object may be as anexample every 0.1-2 seconds, including 0.5-1.5 seconds including 0.8-1.2seconds, wherein preferably the characteristic property data istransmitted to a receiver repeatedly. In the case that the moving objectis an aircraft, this is of essential importance so the exact trajectoryand orientation of the aircraft is determined frequently. The receiverwould in this particular case bye the air-traffic control.

In still another embodiment the system is provided with a means forreceiving information, such as from air-traffic control, if the movingobject is an airplane. This information could, as an example, bewarnings. In the case the moving object is a motor running vehicle,these warnings could indicate when vehicle is outside the range definedby the upper and lower limit of the at least one characteristicproperty. This could, as an example, be when the vehicle exceeds thevelocity limit. In the case the moving object is a ship, the warningcould consist of bad weather ahead.

According to the second aspect, the present invention relates to aregistration system for determining a track record of a moving object bydetermining at least one characteristic properties of the object, saidsystem comprising:

-   -   receiving at least three Global-Positioning-System (GPS)        coordinates, each of the coordinates comprising the current        position of the moving object and the current time, at which the        moving object is at the current position,    -   storing said coordinates data in a storage means,    -   utilizing the at least three coordinates for determining said at        least one characteristic properties of the moving object,        and thereby obtaining a track record for the moving object,        wherein the track record comprises information related to:    -   direction of movement    -   velocity    -   perpendicular acceleration        and wherein said track record data is utilized to create user        information.

In one preferred embodiment the system further comprising a transceiverfor transmitting data from the registration system and/or receivingdata. The computer system may be located external from the registrationsystem, in the case the size of the system is to be minimized. Thiswould be the case if the system would be used in a motor runningvehicle, such as a car. The powering could be through the electricsystem of the moving object, such as through the cigarette lighter or byproviding it with a battery, preferably rechargeable. The data wouldthen simply be transmitted from the system to a computer system, such asthrough a wireless network system, which may be a satellite systemand/or telephone network and/or radio transmitting system and/or mobiletelephone system and/or infrared data transmission, or a system based onBlue Tooth technology where the characteristic properties aredetermined.

If on the other hand the moving object is larger, the computer systemcould be integrated into the system, and not be on the receiver's side.If the moving object is an airplane, this system can be regarded as anadditional data storage and processing means comprising informationrelating to at least one of the following data:

-   -   keeping inside recommended 3-dimensional geo-fence,    -   speed and/or variations thereof,    -   linear acceleration,    -   perpendicular acceleration    -   altitude and/or variations thereof, and    -   position,        wherein real time processing of said data can be transformed        into a signal and obtained by a receiver.

In another preferred embodiment the system is provided with at least onesensor for determining at least one environmental parameter andassociated with a GPS coordinate. These parameters may as an example isprecipitation, temperature, moisture, wind-speed etc.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following the present invention, and in particular preferredembodiments thereof, will be described in greater details in connectionwith the accompanying drawings in which

FIG. 1 shows an overview over the system for determining a track recordof a moving object,

FIG. 2 shows how received and calculated data is stored in the system,

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of how the downloaded data in the system ispublished through user intervention to a map or a report, and

FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of how the perpendicular acceleration may bedetermined from an automobile driving in a curve.

FIG. 1 shows an overview over the system for determining a track recordof a moving object, where the moving object is a car 2. In this examplethe car is provided with a registration system 3 comprising aGlobal-Positioning-System (GPS) with an antenna such as ceramic patch,passive antenna for receiving plurality of GPS coordinates from asatellites 1 and a storage means for storing said coordinates. Thesecoordinates give the position of the car 2 as well as the time. Thesystem may be powered by plugging it to the electric system of the car,i.e. the cigarette lighter. The system may also be powered throughbattery or any other kind of power source. After collecting a pluralityof GPS coordinates, such as after on driving cycle, the coordinates aretransmitted to a receiver, where at least one, characteristic propertyof the car is determined. Transmitting the coordinates data by be donemanually 5 or through wireless communication 7, such as throughsatellites system, telephone network, the Internet or by utilizing BlueTooth technology. On the receiver side software 8 utilizes thecoordinates for calculating at least one characteristic property of thecar, which may be the velocity, the total travelled distance, theacceleration, the perpendicular acceleration and all variations thereof.A track record 9 of the car is obtained comprising information relatingto the driving in this driving cycle. As an example the track recordshows the total distance in the driving cycle, where the speed of thecar exceeded a predetermined speed limit, and where exactly (with astreet name) this event occurred, the speed of the car in a curve, whichis determined from the perpendicular acceleration.

In another embodiment the at least one characteristic property of thesystem may be determined during or after collecting a plurality of GPScoordinates points, so that the data transmitted to a receiver are fullyprocessed data. One application of this is when implementing the systemto an airplane, where both the positioning of the airplane as well asother characteristic properties are monitored. The receiver, in thiscase the air-traffic control would receive information relating to ifthe airplane is inside recommended 3-dimensional geo-fence or not, thespeed and/or variations thereof, the linear acceleration, theperpendicular acceleration altitude and/or variations thereof, andposition. Preferably, the system would be provided with receiving meansfor receiving signals from, in this case, the air-traffic control, whichcould be warnings.

The essential part here is to receive GPS-coordinates points and utilizethese data points in determining characteristic property for an movingobject. The moving object may as well be any kind of motor vehicle, aship etc.

FIG. 2 shows how received and calculated data is stored in the systemand how the system determines a track record of a moving object, whereinantenna 11 receive a GPS satellite signal, giving a coordinate of amoving object. A microprocessor 12, preferably a SiRFStar-II chipreceives they coordinate data, and stores the data in a storage means13, preferably a Flash memory. A firmware 14 is also provided forcontrolling what information goes into the memory and how it is packedand organized. The firmware controls and constructs the data transferredto the flash memory. The data construction is based on data packagesystem. Every data package comprises a number of measurements. Firstrecords of data in the package is a full version of the data, aTimestamp (Timestamp ID, full position, full date and a full time).

The rest of data package comes in sets of a predetermined number ofmeasurements and every set ends with a checksum for data reliabilityverification. Every measurement comprises of a relative number from thelast position and a relative number from the time/date in the timestamp.

As an example one data package consists of 28 data including thetimestamp data point (x_(T), y_(T), t_(T)). This timestamp data point isused as a reference points for the subsequent data points in the datapackage. The timestamp gives the exact position, usually in latitude andlongitude coordinates, of the object (x_(T), y_(T)) as well as an exactdate t_(T), i.e. year, month, day and time. The subsequent data pointsin this package show the deviation from these coordinates, i.e. (Δx_(i),Δy_(i), Δt_(i)) where Δx_(i)=x_(T)−x_(i) and Δy_(i)y_(T)−y_(i) =withx_(i) and y_(i) is the absolute position of later coming GPS-coordinatesin the x-and y-axis (i.e north and south, or latitude, and longitude)and Δt_(i)=t_(T)−t_(i) is the elapsed time interval from t_(T). Thisdeviation may also be the deviation from the adjacent GPS-coordinate, sothat Δx_(i)=x_(i)−x_(i−1), Δy_(i)=y_(i)−y_(i−1) Δt_(i)=t_(i)−t_(i−1).Therefore, be definging such data package where only the first datapoint, the timestamp, is used as a reference point and the subsequentcoordinate data points in one data package are simply the deviation fromthis timestamp a space is saved, and larger number of points may becollected, than if all the data points in the data package would betimestamps.

Preferably, the new data package is defined regularly and therefore anew timestamp is defined. This is simply to maintain a high accuracy inthe GPS-coordinates and in the later determined characteristicproperties of the object. If there is an error in the first timestamp,it will be corrected by the next defined timestamp. Accordingly, a newtimestamp defines a new coordinate system with a plurality ofcoordinates points. The system therefore defines regularly a newcoordinate system.

The conditions that can close each timestamp could be:

-   -   Time, each data packet has a maximum size.    -   Speed of vehicle goes under predetermined limit    -   N/S/E/W indicator change (For instance N/W to N/E)    -   The GPS signal strength goes under predetermined level

The conditions that have to be met before starting to log a new datapackage could be:

-   -   Five seconds after transition from GPS signal strength below        predetermined level to above & speed is above a certain        predetermined limit    -   Speed transition from under predetermined limit to above & GPS        signal strength above predetermined level

In the Timestamp ID it can be determined if the following events haveoccurred since the last measurement.

-   -   Power loss    -   GPS signal strength gone to invalid    -   GPS signal strength gone below predetermined level

The interface (5) from the data storage and to the data processingsystem can go trough a wireless transmission as mentioned earlier, suchas through satellite system or telephone network or the transmission maybe through plugging the system to a computer system and download thedata to the data processing system.

EXAMPLE

The following example illustrates one data package with a plurality ofincrement packages, wherein each increment package comprises threeincrement elements.

20 bytes Timestamp Start ID Time/Date Latitude Longitude Checksum

20 bytes Increment Packet nr1 Inc. Latitude Inc. Longitude MillisecondsInc. Latitude Inc. Longitude Milliseconds Inc. Latitude Inc. LongitudeMilliseconds Checksum

20 bytes Increment Packet nr2 Inc. Latitude Inc. Longitude MillisecondsInc. Latitude Inc. Longitude Milliseconds Inc. Latitude Inc. LongitudeMilliseconds Checksum

-   -   etc . . .    -   Total of 9 increment packets in 1 Data Packet        Timestamp:

The first element in the data package is the Timestamp element,comprising:

FDFD 13.02.2002-17:38:21:215 −64,12584 21,54871 f5hwhere start ID, which is the first field in the Timestamp, tells thesystem the ID type of the Timestamp. There are numerous types of StartID;

-   FDFD=When the unit comes out of a power loss.-   FCFC=When the unit had lost signal and comes in again.-   FFFF=Normal, when the unit is logging continuously without power and    signal loss.

The second field in the Timestamp is the Date and time, withmilliseconds. Latitude and longitude position comes after that in thethird and fourth field in the Timestamp. Check-sum in the fifth field inthe Timestamp is used to find out weather the Timestamp is damaged ornot and is found by summing up all the 14 bytes (ignore overflow bit)and using XOR.

Increment elements in the first increment package, following after thetimestamp element, reflect, as mentioned before, the changes in thelatitude, longitude and time difference from the Timestamp value. Thefirst and second increment elements (coordinate-point) in incrementpackage nr.1 could have the following coordinates:

Increment element nr 1: 1251 349 1345with 1251 as the latitude change from the Timestamp latitude value, 349the longitude change and 1345 the time change (milliseconds), and thesecond increment element the coordinate

Increment element nr 2: 1008 142 1350

In this example every third increment element in each increment packagehas an additional element, which is the check-sum that verifies thatthree last increment elements are valid, i.e.

Increment element nr 3: 1240 124 1310 5fhwith 5fh showing the checksum, and the other 1240, 124 and 1310 thechange in the latitude, longitude and time from the Timestamp.

Accordingly each increment package with three increment elements requireonly 20 bytes, versus 20 bytes for only one Timestamp coordinate point.Therefore, if each data point in the increment packages would be aTimestamp point instead of increment element, each increment packagewould require 3*20 bytes=60 bytes, instead of 20 bytes. Therefore thedata capacity in the present system is enlarged.

The checksum could as well be the in the second, fourth, fifth etc.increment element in the increment package.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of how the data in the system is downloadedto a receiver. The raw measurement data in the device's memory isdownloaded to the system and saved for later processing 22. In thisembodiment the data decode 21 is the part of the system were data isdecoded from a raw-data file. The decoded raw data is then filtered 23according to specified criteria, such as if there is an error in thecalculating a characteristic property such as the acceleration is toolarge, it will not be shown, and it can also happen that the samecoordinate point is collected twice. In this level all calculations inthe at least one characteristic property of the moving object areperformed on the decoded data and filters are applied where needed. Thefinal processed data is then stored in a database table 24 and is readyto be used for publishing reports and displaying maps. Information fromthis database is published 25 according to user set criteria 28 anddisplayed either on maps 27 or in reports 26. The user can, as anexample, specify start and end time of reports, maximum or minimum of atleast one of the moving vehicle's characteristics, the duration of avehicle standstill and etc.

FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of how the perpendicular acceleration may bedetermined from an automobile 30 driving in a curve. A plurality of GPScoordinates points including the timestamp 31 is shown. All subsequentGPS coordinate points are, as mentioned earlier, the variation from theTimestamp. In this example and in a simplified picture assuming thecoordinates are as real coordinates, the transversal (T) speed V_(iT)and V_(i+1,T) of the automobile is determined through:

$\begin{matrix}{{Vi},{T = \frac{\sqrt{\left( {\left( {{x(i)} - {x\left( {i - 1} \right)}} \right)^{2} + \left( {{y(i)} - {y\left( {i - 1} \right)}} \right)^{2}} \right)}}{{t(i)} - {t\left( {i - 1} \right)}}},} & (1) \\{{{Vi} + 1},{T = \frac{\sqrt{\left( {\left( {{x\left( {i + 1} \right)} - {x(i)}} \right)^{2} + \left( {{y\left( {i + 1} \right)} - {y(i)}} \right)^{2}} \right)}}{{t\left( {i + 1} \right)} - {t(i)}}},} & (2)\end{matrix}$where the travelled distance is the distance between two points, in thiscase adjacent points utilizing Pythagorean theorem. The radius R 38 ofthe curved path, is where the vectors r_(i,p) 36 and r_(i+1,p),perpendicular to the tangent in the two points, intersect 39. These twovectors are given as:r _(i)=(x(i)−xT−x(c),y(i)−yT−y(c)) and r_(i+1)=(x(i+1)−xT−x(c),y(l+1)−yT−y(c)),with (xc,yc) as the intersection point. Using standard vectorcalculations the intersection (xc,yc) 39 is obtained and therefore theradius R 38, from which the perpendicular acceleration is obtained, i.e.a _(cent) =V ² _(i,T) /R.

Also by summing up the distance between two points, preferably adjacentpoints, by using Pythagorean theorem as shown in Eqs. (1) and (2) thetotal travelling distance of the automobile is obtained.

However in reality, the GPS coordinates are presented as latitude andlongitude coordinates. In one preferred embodiment the GPS technology,WGS-84 (World Geodetic System 1984) is used. This model assumes anellipsoid with a semi-major axis (equatorial radius) a=6,378,137 m, anda semi-minor axis (polar radius) b=6,356,752.3142 m (defined as1/f=1/298.257223563, where f=(a−b)/a).

Usually, an agricultural field has relatively small size (with respectto the Earth), and may be considered as a flat surface at a particularlocation on the Earth. Therefore, in order to convert geographiccoordinates into linear units (real coordinates) it is necessary todefine the distance corresponding to a 1° change in longitude (F_(lon))and latitude (F_(lat)) for a specific field location (average geographiclatitude φ and height over ellipsoid h).

These conversion factors may be determined using the relation

${F_{lon} = {{\frac{\pi}{180{^\circ}}\left\lbrack {\frac{a^{2}}{\sqrt{\left( {{a^{2}\cos^{2}\varphi} + {b^{2}\sin^{2}\varphi}} \right)}} + h} \right\rbrack}\cos\;\varphi}},{F_{lat} = {{\frac{\pi}{180{^\circ}}\left\lbrack {\frac{a^{2}b^{2}}{\sqrt{\left( {{a^{2}\cos^{2}\varphi} + {b^{2}\sin^{2}\varphi}} \right)^{3/2}}} + h} \right\rbrack}\mspace{14mu}\ldots}}$

Distance between two points can be found using the following formula:Dis=√{square root over ((F _(lat)(φ₁−φ₂)²)+(F _(lon)(λ₁−λ₂)²))}{squareroot over ((F _(lat)(φ₁−φ₂)²)+(F _(lon)(λ₁−λ₂)²))},with λ is the longitude coordinate (°W) and φ the latitude coordinate(°N).

1. A method for determining a track record of a moving object bydetermining at least one characteristic properties of the object, saidmethod comprising: receiving at least three Global-Positioning-System(GPS) coordinates, each of the coordinates comprising the currentposition of the moving object and the current time, at which the movingobject is at the current position, storing said coordinates data in astorage means, utilizing the at least three coordinates for determiningsaid at least one characteristic properties of the moving object, andthereby obtaining a track record for the moving object, wherein thetrack record comprises information related to: direction of movementvelocity perpendicular acceleration and wherein said track record datais utilized to create user information.
 2. A method according to claim1, wherein the rate of collecting the GPS-coordinates and/or determiningthe at least one characteristic property data of the moving object is inthe range of 0.01-2 seconds.
 3. A method according to claim 1 whereinthe moving object collects the first GPS data when its engine isrunning.
 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the collection of theGPS data is based on starting and shutting down the engine of the movingobject.
 5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the moving objectcollects the first GPS data when it exceeds a predetermined velocitylimit.
 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the coordinates dataare stored as at least one data package, the at least one data packagecomprising at least one timestamp coordinate point as a reference pointfor said at least one data package, the timestamp giving the absoluteposition and absolute time of the moving object, and a plurality ofcoordinate data points as a deviation from the timestamp coordinatepoint.
 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the at least onecharacteristic property of the object is determined and stored prior totransmitting the GPS and characteristic property data to a computersystem.
 8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the track record ofthe moving object for a predetermined time limit comprises at least oneof the following data: the total distance the automobile has travelled,the total time the automobile has been driving, where and/or when saidpredetermined limits has been exceeded, the speed, the acceleration, theperpendicular acceleration, the position, the brake distance, and atwhat speed the moving object was most frequently moving.
 9. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the track record comprises linking theposition and/the time of the moving object to each of the at least onecharacteristic property data.
 10. A method according to claim 1, furthercomprising means for obtaining at least one environmental parameter,wherein each of said parameters can be associated with a GPS coordinate.11. A method according to claim 1, wherein the at least oneenvironmental parameters is one of precipitation, temperature, moisture,or wind-speed.
 12. A method according to claim 1, wherein the at leastone environmental parameters influence how the upper-and lower limit ofthe at least one characteristic property is defined.
 13. A methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting thetrack record data and the at least one characteristic property datathrough a wireless network to a recipient.
 14. A method according toclaim 1, wherein the GPS coordinates are transmitted to a computersystem on a receiver side.
 15. A method according to claim 1, whereinthe information comprises any of the following: moving manner, velocitycomparison with a velocity database, wherein the velocity databaseincludes information about upper and lower velocity limits in certainareas.
 16. A method according to claim 1, wherein the at least onecharacteristic property of the object is determined in the computersystem subsequently after transmitting the GPS data to the computersystem and based thereon the track record of the moving object isobtained.
 17. A method according to claim 1, wherein the user is themoving object.
 18. A method according to claim 1, wherein the at leastone characteristic property data are transmitted to a receiverrepeatedly.
 19. A method according to claim 1, further comprising meansfor receiving user information from the receiver.
 20. A method accordingto claim 1, wherein the received user information from the receiver is awarning signal, indicating when the moving object is outside theinterval defined by the upper and lower limit of the at least onecharacteristic property.
 21. A method according to claim 1, wherein themoving object is a motor vehicle.
 22. A method according to claim 1,wherein the moving object is an airplane.
 23. A method according toclaim 22, wherein the track record of the airplane comprises at leastone of the following data: keeping inside recommended 3-dimensionalgeo-fence, speed and/or variations thereof, linear acceleration,perpendicular acceleration altitude and/or variations thereof, andposition, wherein real time processing of said data can be transformedinto a signal and obtained by a receiver.
 24. A method according toclaim 1, wherein the receiver is air-traffic controller.
 25. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the moving object is a ship.
 26. Aregistration system for determining a track record of a moving object bydetermining at least one characteristic properties of the object, saidsystem comprising: means for receiving at least threeGlobal-Positioning-System (GPS) coordinates, each of the coordinatescomprising the current position of the moving object and the currenttime, at which the moving object is at the current position, means forstoring said coordinates data in a storage means, means for utilizingthe at least three coordinates for determining said at least onecharacteristic properties of the moving object, and thereby obtaining atrack record for the moving object, wherein the track record comprisesinformation related to: direction of movement velocity perpendicularacceleration and wherein said track record data is utilized to createuser information.
 27. A system according to claim 26, further comprisingat least one sensor for measuring at least one environmental parameterand associate said parameter with a GPS coordinate.
 28. A systemaccording to claims 26 or 27, further comprising a transceiver fortransmitting and/or receiving data from the registration system.
 29. Asystem according to claim 26, wherein a computer system is locatedexternal from the registration system.
 30. A system according to claim26, wherein the data transmitting and/or data receiving is performedthrough a wireless network system.
 31. A system according to claim 30,wherein the wireless network is one selected from group of a satellitesystem, a telephone network, a radio transmitting system, a mobiletelephone system, and an infrared data transmission.
 32. A systemaccording to claim 26, wherein the moving object is a motor vehicle. 33.A system according to claim 32, wherein the registration system isplugged to the electric system of the motor vehicle for powering theregistration system.
 34. A system according to claim 32, wherein theregistration system is provided with a battery for powering theregistration system.
 35. A system according to claim 26, wherein themoving object is an airplane and the system is an additional datastorage and processing means comprising information relating to at leastone of the following data: keeping inside recommended 3-dimensionalgeo-fence, speed and/or variations thereof, linear acceleration,perpendicular acceleration altitude and/or variations thereof, andposition, wherein real time processing of said data can be transformedinto a signal and obtained by a receiver.
 36. A system according toclaim 35, wherein the receiver is air-traffic controller.
 37. A methodaccording to claim 2, wherein the rate of collecting the GPS-coordinatesand/or determining the at least one characteristic property data of themoving object is in the range of 0.5-1.5 seconds.
 38. A method accordingto claim 37, wherein the rate of collecting the GPS-coordinates and/ordetermining the at least one characteristic property data of the movingobject is in the range 0.8-1.2 seconds.